Nikki Hayes has revealed that she believes her mental health issues may have cost her marriage, as she struggled to cope in recent years.

The 39 year old won praise nationwide for her bravery after she shared her mental breakdown three years ago.

The Classic Hits 4fm presenter was sectioned at the time and took to social media to share her story and urge others to seek help. Speaking about that time, she told Hot Press magazine that a year later her marriage ended.

She said: “I had the breakdown, believe it or not, three years ago now. I was in a psychiatric unit being held under the Mental Health Act. Then, when I came out there was a lot of recovery going on.

And then a year after the breakdown, my marriage broke up. So, I never really properly recovered – just as I was starting to get back on my feet again, I was back down in the dumps.”

Read More

Mental Health

Nikki married soldier Frank in 2015 and the pair have one daughter together, Farrah. However, this year things started looking up for Nikki after she rejoined Classic Hits 4FM in Dublin, hostING the mid-morning slot between 10am to noon on weekdays.

Speaking to RSVP Live , the mother said she was delighted to be back full-time, 3 years after her breakdown, saying: "It's 3 years ago this weekend since my breakdown so it's a huge thing for me to finally be back full-time.

Read More

"I love Classic Hits and the music so I'll be enjoying the show as much as anyone listening.

"The music will be 80's, 90's and more, lots of gossip and participation from listeners, who at the end of the day always make a show for me, they're the stars.

Nikki also spoke fondly of her colleague Gareth O'Callaghan, who stepped down from his radio role recently due to ill health.

The former RTÉ radio presenter sent out an email to his colleagues revealing that he had Multiple System Atrophy which is a very rare and deadly neurodegenerative illness which attacks the body’s central nervous system.

The 57-year-old revealed that the illness is incurable and deadly, and has had to leave the show as he wanted to fight the disease.

"Sadly it is incurable and progressive," he said adding, "I won't back down.

“Time to do battle with this beast and fight it for as long as I can."